Award winning American theatre director collaborates with Bilkent students
Neon blue lights enveloped the stage and ten theatre students stood in stationary positions, holding their breaths, waiting for the audience to lull into silence, before they marked the start of their experimental play. The colour blue, is usually symbolic of peace and serenity, however one look at the dim theatre room and one could gauge the mood of the play to be more sombre and melancholic, and more reflective of the word “blues” that conveys sorrow and misery, than the colour itself
.
Such was the scenario, on Friday, 23rd March, which marked the opening night of an experimental play “The Blue Hotel.” The piece was performed by Bilkent theatre students as part of their Junior Project and was directed by Obie Award winning American artist Whit MacLaughlin. The play was performed at Bilkent’s Department of Performing Arts and aimed to demonstrate the Turkish notion of “huzun” or melancholy with a more modern experimental theatre approach. The piece comprised of several complex themes, however its main goal was to have a deep emotional impact and evoke a mood of sadness amongst the audience.
Whit MacLaughlin is an award winning director of experimental theatre and co-founder of the New Paradise Laboratories, an experimental theatre ensemble in Pennsylvania. The organisation collaborates with artists from a variety of backgrounds including web designers, visual artists, writers, philosophers and actors. Thus, the collaboration with such an experienced professional proved to be a great learning experience for Bilkent theatre students, as it allowed them to work with experimental form of theatre.
“The Blue Hotel is a space of purgatory”
With respect to the piece, perhaps the most apt description of “The Blue Hotel” was relayed by Director MacLaughlin himself, as he stated: “The Blue Hotel is a space of purgatory, somewhere between life and death, where characters try to come to some understanding of their lives.” It is important to understand this notion before one views the play as it offers a better understanding of the scenes and its characters. The play is full of such symbols in every scene as characters are seen holding blue cocktails that symbolise a drink of rejuvenation, whilst an actor in a bride’s costume is portrayed to be dead marking the stark contrast between the beginning of a new life and death.
“There is not a lot of spoken language in this piece”
Mr. MacLaughlin also revealed that, “There are not a lot of words in this piece” during an interview with Bilkent students, whilst discussing The Blue Hotel and his experiences in Turkey and abroad. This proved to be true as it was similar to other avant-garde theatre pieces. Hence, the play comprised of fewer dialogues and more background music and human sounds that expressed the emotions and actions of the characters. As per the director, the inspiration for the play was derived from several literary and artistic sources ranging from Orhan Pamuk’s novels to Eric Fischl’s paintings and musical sources of both Turkish and foreign composers.
It is important to note that this theatrical piece unfolded in a span of four short weeks as Mr. MacLaughlin explained the full process behind the creation, composition and direction of the play. With only two weeks dedicated to creating the material for the play and one week to assemble and write the full text as well as to design the sound of the play, the artists had to work on a serious time crunch. The process was such that it allowed students to formulate their own stories by observing certain paintings and the characters in them. Once, various students, observed and conjured up stories from the same painting, the director weaved them into a single piece. The resulting story depicted an unusual theatrical vision with floating riddles and ambiguities in every scene. The blue lights and images were recurrent throughout the play and even though the storyline differed across scenes, the pain experienced by actors was a constant. Thus, The Blue Hotel, successfully demonstrated the various types of sorrow and misery experienced by people, by using raw human emotions and sounds rather than words, to convey these ideas.
“Bilkent Theatre continues to present unique examples”
Mr. MacLaughlin also seemed to be impressed by the talent demonstrated by Bilkent theatre students as he stated: “In some ways actors here are better than actors from grad programs in the US. They are more creative, passionate and capable”. This proved to be a great moment of pride for Bilkent Department of Theatre’s Chair Mr. Jason Hale as he reaffirmed by stating: “Bilkent Theatre continues to present unique examples of theatrical performances to Ankara art lovers.” He also emphasized, on Bilkent’s theatre students’ keen learning interest especially in terms of gaining experience with respect to different types of theatres. Thus, both the artists and the audience viewed this collaboration as a great success, as it allowed the students to work with experimental form of theatre and showcase an overall unique play to the viewers. Hence, showing the importance of foreign collaboration, especially across borders, to produce invaluable art pieces.
The Blue Hotel can be seen at Bilkent University’s Music and Performing Arts Faculty Chamber Theatre on every Wednesday between 24th March and 9th May at 20:00. Tickets can be obtained from https://ticket.bilkent.edu.tr for 15TL.
Neon blue lights enveloped the stage and ten theatre students stood in stationary positions, holding their breaths, waiting for the audience to lull into silence, before they marked the start of their experimental play. The colour blue, is usually symbolic of peace and serenity, however one look at the dim theatre room and one could gauge the mood of the play to be more sombre and melancholic, and more reflective of the word “blues” that conveys sorrow and misery, than the colour itself
.
Such was the scenario, on Friday, 23rd March, which marked the opening night of an experimental play “The Blue Hotel.” The piece was performed by Bilkent theatre students as part of their Junior Project and was directed by Obie Award winning American artist Whit MacLaughlin. The play was performed at Bilkent’s Department of Performing Arts and aimed to demonstrate the Turkish notion of “huzun” or melancholy with a more modern experimental theatre approach. The piece comprised of several complex themes, however its main goal was to have a deep emotional impact and evoke a mood of sadness amongst the audience.
Whit MacLaughlin is an award winning director of experimental theatre and co-founder of the New Paradise Laboratories, an experimental theatre ensemble in Pennsylvania. The organisation collaborates with artists from a variety of backgrounds including web designers, visual artists, writers, philosophers and actors. Thus, the collaboration with such an experienced professional proved to be a great learning experience for Bilkent theatre students, as it allowed them to work with experimental form of theatre.
“The Blue Hotel is a space of purgatory”
With respect to the piece, perhaps the most apt description of “The Blue Hotel” was relayed by Director MacLaughlin himself, as he stated: “The Blue Hotel is a space of purgatory, somewhere between life and death, where characters try to come to some understanding of their lives.” It is important to understand this notion before one views the play as it offers a better understanding of the scenes and its characters. The play is full of such symbols in every scene as characters are seen holding blue cocktails that symbolise a drink of rejuvenation, whilst an actor in a bride’s costume is portrayed to be dead marking the stark contrast between the beginning of a new life and death.
“There is not a lot of spoken language in this piece”
Mr. MacLaughlin also revealed that, “There are not a lot of words in this piece” during an interview with Bilkent students, whilst discussing The Blue Hotel and his experiences in Turkey and abroad. This proved to be true as it was similar to other avant-garde theatre pieces. Hence, the play comprised of fewer dialogues and more background music and human sounds that expressed the emotions and actions of the characters. As per the director, the inspiration for the play was derived from several literary and artistic sources ranging from Orhan Pamuk’s novels to Eric Fischl’s paintings and musical sources of both Turkish and foreign composers.
It is important to note that this theatrical piece unfolded in a span of four short weeks as Mr. MacLaughlin explained the full process behind the creation, composition and direction of the play. With only two weeks dedicated to creating the material for the play and one week to assemble and write the full text as well as to design the sound of the play, the artists had to work on a serious time crunch. The process was such that it allowed students to formulate their own stories by observing certain paintings and the characters in them. Once, various students, observed and conjured up stories from the same painting, the director weaved them into a single piece. The resulting story depicted an unusual theatrical vision with floating riddles and ambiguities in every scene. The blue lights and images were recurrent throughout the play and even though the storyline differed across scenes, the pain experienced by actors was a constant. Thus, The Blue Hotel, successfully demonstrated the various types of sorrow and misery experienced by people, by using raw human emotions and sounds rather than words, to convey these ideas.
“Bilkent Theatre continues to present unique examples”
Mr. MacLaughlin also seemed to be impressed by the talent demonstrated by Bilkent theatre students as he stated: “In some ways actors here are better than actors from grad programs in the US. They are more creative, passionate and capable”. This proved to be a great moment of pride for Bilkent Department of Theatre’s Chair Mr. Jason Hale as he reaffirmed by stating: “Bilkent Theatre continues to present unique examples of theatrical performances to Ankara art lovers.” He also emphasized, on Bilkent’s theatre students’ keen learning interest especially in terms of gaining experience with respect to different types of theatres. Thus, both the artists and the audience viewed this collaboration as a great success, as it allowed the students to work with experimental form of theatre and showcase an overall unique play to the viewers. Hence, showing the importance of foreign collaboration, especially across borders, to produce invaluable art pieces.
The Blue Hotel can be seen at Bilkent University’s Music and Performing Arts Faculty Chamber Theatre on every Wednesday between 24th March and 9th May at 20:00. Tickets can be obtained from https://ticket.bilkent.edu.tr for 15TL.